iOverhear
by loganX5
Summary: Freddie overhears something that makes him think twice about the true nature of Carly and Sam's relationship. Cam.


**Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly.**

With an exausted sigh, Carly lay aside the clipboard that contained all the skits and gags for iCarly that they had been working on for the past four hours. "Okay, I think we're done." With today's marathon writing session, they now had enough material to last them for the next several weeks, which meant more time for them to enjoy their upcoming summer vacation.

"At last!" said Sam. "Now go order those pizzas, Fredwardian! Mama has worked up a mighty big hunger with all of this thinkin'!"

"It's a pity Mama didn't help with some of the writing or typing as well!" Freddie grumbled, closing his laptop and flexing his tired fingers.

"Hey, a good team plays to its members' strengths - Carly has the neatest writing, you're the fastest at typing, and I'm the one with all the creative genius. It is what it is."

"Oh, and I suppose you also have an explanation as to why _I'm_ the one ordering the pizzas when _you're_ gonna be the one eating most of them."

"You have a better phone manner," Sam simply answered, as if that justified everything.

"Well, maybe if you made an effort to be polite, people wouldn't hang up on you all the time!" Freddie shot back.

"Guys!" Carly interrupted, "if it's a big deal I'll go order!" She started to get up off her beanbag.

"No, it's okay," Freddie quickly said, smiling at Carly and looking a little guilty. "You and Spencer paid, so I'll go do it." Spencer was presently secluded in his room, working on his 'latest masterpiece,' so rather than stopping to prepare dinner, he had just thrown a handful of small bills and loose change at the kids and told them to "order pizza or something." From experience, Carly knew what her brother had given them wasn't enough to feed Sam, so she had added her own money in as well.

Looking pointedly at Sam as he got up, Freddie said, "Unlike _some_, I know how to show gratitude." Sam just stuck her tongue out at him. Unable to think of a comeback, Freddie stalked over to the computer table and gathered up the small pile of notes and coins in both hands. Managing to clumsily open the studio door, he went out into the hall. Just as he got the door shut behind him, the coins slipped out of his hands and spilled all over the floor, quickly followed by the notes. Shaking his head, he got down on hands and knees to start gathering them up. _Honestly, how does that guy manage to accumulate so many quarters!_ As he was rummaging around on the floor, he heard Sam's voice through the door, griping about having worked for so long without a break.

"Dude, I can't believe you made us work inside all afternoon!" It had been hot and sunny outside all day - a rarity in Seattle - but Carly had insisted that the scheduled writing session go ahead.

"We needed to, Sam. We'd fallen behind, what with all our end-of-term schoolwork. But now we're ahead, and you'll thank me for it over the next few weeks."

"I guess," said Sam, a little mollified. "Still..." her voice took on a mischievous tone. "I think you might owe Mama some payback."

"What?" a slight note of alarm entered Carly's voice.

"I think you know what I mean..."

"Sam?" Carly questioned hesitantly. There was silence for a few seconds, then a firmer, if a little panicked, "Sam! No!" from Carly, followed by a furious rustling of beanbags, and ending with a dull thud and a small shriek from Carly. Freddie stopped what he was doing and looked back towards the studio door, eyebrows raised. There were some more noises of scrabbling around on the floor, and then suddenly Carly complained, "No fair! Why do you always end up on top!"

"You know how I like to take charge of my girl! Guess Mama's just a natural dom!" Sam gloated.

Eyes going wide, Freddie quickly scooted over closer to the door, still on his hands and knees, and began to listen more carefully.

"Now," Sam was still talking in low, mischievous voice, "how do you propose to make up for keeping me shut inside all day, huh?"

"Uhm..." Carly thought for a moment. "I can make you your favourite waffles for breakfast tomorrow?"

"You were going to do that anyway - I already saw the ingredients in your fridge. No, I have a better idea. Something special that I can only do with you..." Sam trailed off suggestively.

"Sam... no, not that," Carly pleaded.

"Come on, Carls. I know you secretly enjoy it. And let's face it, you have it coming. You've been teasing me all day, what with that short, loose top you're wearing, showing off your tummy like that - you _know_ how easily I'm tempted!"

Outside the studio door, Freddie's eyes were wide as saucers, and his heart was pounding a million miles an hour, as his teenage-boy hormones led him, as to be expected, straight to one conclusion. _Ohmigod! Are they about to...! I mean, are they... together! As in, the type of together where they jump on each other in the middle of the iCarly studio and have wild girl-on-girl sex!_ And suddenly Freddie was reminded of all the rumors and gossip and guys'-restroom-wall-scribbles floating around school, that he had half-heard and less-than-half paid attention to; the ones told with small snickers behind people's backs, and that speculated about the (supposed) true nature of the relationship between one Samantha Puckett and a certain Carly Shay. Rumors concerning the many little touches and meaningful looks and snippets of rapid-fire dialogue shared between the two, more reminiscent of lovers rather than friends, and which took on an even more ambiguous tone when viewed alongside the very few real boyfriends either of them had had. And did girls that age really need to have that many sleepovers? With just the two of them. In the same bed.

All these rumors, which Freddie had dismissed out of hand, for reasons many and varied, now begged to be reconsidered. Before he had even realised it, Freddie was lifting his head to peak in through the glass of the studio door, trying to peer over or around the tech-cart parked just inside, and which partially obscured the view, whilst not revealing his presence. Whatever doubts he may have had about the morality of spying on his two best friends during what was obviously a private moment, were quickly quashed by his burning need to know the truth, and the aforementioned teenage-boy hormones that demanded to see whatever it was that was about to happen.

Finally getting the correct angle, Freddie saw the two girls on the floor, just off to one side of the beanbag where Carly had been sitting. The brunette lay on her back, her dark hair disshevelled and fanned out on the floor around her head. Sam lay on top of her, straddling Carly's hips and thighs, the blonde's strong legs effectively immobilising the other girl's lower body. Sam held both of Carly's wrists pinned to the ground above her head. Although Carly was making the occasional half-hearted attempt to wriggle free, she was unable to get enough leverage to dislodge her captor. As Freddie watched, Sam transferred both of Carly's wrists to one hand, and sat up, looking down at her helpless prisoner with a sly smile on her face. With her arms stretched out above her, Carly's already-short top had ridden up, exposing her tummy and sides to Sam's hungry gaze. The blonde lightly traced a fingertip along Carly's creamy skin, just below the hemline of her top, then down one side, and back along the waistband of her shorts. Judging by the rapid rise and fall of the brunette's ribcage as she breathed in and out, Sam seemed to be having quite an effect on her. And judging by his hammering heart, sweaty palms, and the sudden uncomfortable tightness in his pants, the entire scene was having quite an effect on Freddie as well!

As Sam continued her lightly teasing caresses, Carly seemed to resign herself to being at the mercy of the other girl, and stopped struggling. Managing to find her voice again, she softly begged, "Please Sam... not here. Spencer's just downstairs and Freddie could be back any minute! I promise I'll let you do it later, when we're alone."

"It's no use begging, Shay. You _know_ you can't stop me! Mama just does what she wants, when she wants!"

"I know... but if we do it later, when we're alone in my room, I promise I'll find a way to make it worth your while."

"Hmm..." Sam paused to think a second. "Naah! I think we'll just do it now!" Carly whimpered and began struggling again, frantically looking around the room as if searching for some way to escape. Freddie was forced to duck down out of sight again as her head turned towards the door.

_Something about this just doesn't seem right_, thought Freddie. Up 'til now, the whole scene had been playing out just like one of those lesbian porn movies that Gibby would sometimes download and show him. But that last part really did seem like Carly was reluctant. Freddie's arousal quickly disappeared as a terrible thought occurred to him. _Could Sam be forcing Carly to do... stuff... with her that she really didn't want to?_ Freddie frowned. _No way! Sam wouldn't do that to her friend. Would she?_ As much as he disliked the rude and violent blonde, Freddie knew that Sam was devoted to Carly, and he could hardly imagine her deliberately doing anything to hurt her. _But what if Sam didn't realise that Carly wasn't into it? Maybe she had some sort of obsessive crush on her friend, and thought Carly felt the same way? But why would Carly let her do it?_ The answer to that occurred to Freddie almost straight away. _Maybe Carly was afraid that Sam wouldn't handle rejection well, and might do something to hurt herself or someone else._ Regardless, Freddie could not and would not let something like this continue; it was unhealthy for everyone involved. Concern for Carly the only thing now on his mind, Freddie stood up and gritted his teeth, ready to barge into the studio and put an end to things.

As he grabbed hold of the doorknob, mouth open to begin his tirade, Freddie suddenly heard Sam's voice yelling: "INVISIBLE NINJA TICKLING ART!" Freezing in place and staring in confusion through the glass door, he saw Sam, still sitting on Carly, lift one hand up in the air, fingers spread, before that same hand darted down and began furiously tickling the brunette, fingertips rapidly dancing back and forth over the exposed skin of her belly and sides. Carly giggled and shrieked in laughter, thrashing about on the floor but unable to escape Sam's devilish digits, crying out things like: "Aargh! Sam! Please, stop!" in between laughing fits. Paying no heed, and laughing wildly herself the whole time, Sam just continued her merciless tickling assault, as any true hardcore invisible ninja would.

_Huh!_ was all that Freddie could think of for a few seconds, before it began to dawn on him that he'd had the whole situation wrong right from the start. Sam had been talking about tickling all along. That was the 'payback' she wanted! _That_ was why she had wrestled Carly to the ground, and _that_ was what Carly had been fearful of all along. Freddie turned away from the door, shaking his head in exasperation, both at the childish antics of his friends, and at himself for expecting some sort of peep show. _There's no hanky-panky going on here! Of course there's nothing like that between Carly and Sam!_ Freddie would know in an instant if there was. All those kids at school had it wrong. Carly and Sam were just friends. And Freddie was foolish to believe otherwise, even for an instant. _It's just two best friends having a stupid ticklefight!_ Freddie quickly picked up the few remaining bits of money on the floor, and stomped downstairs to order the pizza, leaving the girls to their silly games, like he should have done in the first place.

* * *

Back in the iCarly studio, Sam decided it was time to escalate things a little, before bringing them to a conclusion. "INVISIBLE NINJA TICKLING ART STAGE TWO!" Letting go of Carly's wrists, Sam renewed her tickling attack, this time using both hands at once, targeting different sides of Carly's body at the same time, so that twist and squirm as she might, there was no escaping the maddening, feather-light caresses.

"No, Sam! God! Enough!" Carly squealed and shrieked amidst her giggles, batting ineffectually with her newly-freed hands against Sam's constantly moving arms. With her upper torso no longer pinned, Carly was soon able to begin wriggling out from under Sam, finally gaining enough leverage to buck the smaller girl off her altogether, which, Sam reflected, was sadly the inevitable result of going to Stage Two of a ticklefight with Carly - but nevertheless still worthwhile.

The two girls landed in a sweaty tangle of aching limbs, wildly mussed hair, and disshevelled clothing, both laughing uncontrollably at the sheer fun of it all. As their giggles slowly subsided, they lay on the floor next to each other, panting and trying to catch their breath. Sam rolled onto her side to face Carly, and casually slung an arm over her waist. Carly turned her head to look directly at her friend.

"You know, I wish you would limit your tickle attacks to times when we're home alone. Freddie or Spencer might have overheard."

"Oh? Worried they might get suspicious?" Sam teased.

"I'm worried they might get the wrong idea."

"Oh? And what idea would that be, Cupcake?"

"That you were forcing yourself on me, and having your wicked way with me!"

"Naah! I don't reckon anyone would think that. Besides..." Sam gently ran her fingers down Carly's face, causing her to sigh softly and lean into the caress. "You and I both know I'd never have to force myself on you - I can have my wicked way with you any time I want."

"And me with you," replied Carly, before tangling her fingers in her girlfriend's golden locks and puling her in close for a deep and lingering kiss.


End file.
